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Sonicbids Spotlight: Elos Arma

Sometimes, everything you would ever need to know about a band’s repertoire and personal life is perfectly summed up in a cliche, uninspiring press photo. If that were always the case, it would be tough to infer what Elos Arma want you to believe when you see its post hammer-meets-watermelon, Gallagher-like crime scene picture. “I think I speak for everybody,” drummer Mark Procopio says. “I’m tired of every cross-armed, vandalized-wall, tough-guy promo pic.” Instead, the four members of the Toronto-based, post-hardcore band have opted for ambiguity. And demolished fruit.

Formed in the suburbs of Toronto, Ontario, Elos Arma’s members were originally all in a hardcore band called Caldwell. After three years of touring and writing songs, the band broke up, came back together, added a member and began writing under a new name. The new group’s addition of a synthesizer brings fresh elements into the post-hardcore sound that the group hopes will throw off listeners, especially in the Toronto music scene where most bands fit into the vague “indie” category. “Because of the dynamics in our music, we’ve been able to transcend from playing hardcore/pop-punk shows to indie alternative ones,” Procopio says. “It’s nice in a sense because everyone seems to take their own interpretation.” The group’s affinity for electronic music influenced the addition of the synthesizer, a move that will hopefully “welcome manipulation of [the band's] songs,” says Procopio. “We want to get big in the club scene, maybe.”

Unigirl, an organization that sells Canadian university girl swimsuit calendars and donates the proceeds to the Canadian Cancer Society, used the band’s song “History” for one of its behind-the-scenes videos. The group also plans to reach to the far east and west of Canada now that the members have finished graduating from school and quit their jobs. After the successful release of last summer’s EP, Good News For Bad People, this summer will see the release of the album T.I.T.S.. The acronym’s meaning, much like that of the watermelon press photos, remains unconfirmed.

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